Indoor Herb Garden...making a house a home

Spring has sprung here in Ohio. Well at least inside it has. It was a cold dreary Spring Sunday outside (gloves and winter coat worthy), warm, cozy and green inside. If you are looking for a fun little project to add some green to the inside of your house no better way than to plant an indoor herb garden. Brings fresh smells, with just a sniff and life to the inside of the home. Provides a quick fun little way to confirm that indeed spring is coming in the days/weeks ahead (I mean warmth, color, and sun). Why limit indoor herbs to just the kitchen. 

All you need is Herbs, plant from seed indoors if you are feeling ambitious . OR in my case go to the local garden center and pick up a variety of potted herbs ($2-$3). I'm inpatient, I like the "instant" gratification that comes with the potted ones. 

For a pretty and "homey" look transplant the herbs to a nice looking pot. You do not need to go out and buy a new pot, think creatively. Did your family open a can of veggies/fruit for dinner? Peel off the label and voila instant pot! How about an empty jar from pickles, olives, pasta sauce, think outside the box. You would be amazed the creative ways you can recycle a can or a jar, but that my friends is for another blog (FOCUS). In my case I used 4 Canning Jars I had laying around. Yes I have canned too...another blog...(FOCUS) 

I chose Chives, Oregano and Thyme (you never can have enough of it...really Thyme and TIME is an awesome thing) for the kitchen. Lavender was chosen for the bedside table. It is great for a bathroom as well, who needs a candle ;) 

In the bottom of the pot, can, jar you will need to place some pebbles (about a half-inch or one inch) for drainage we went outside to gather ours, If you happen to be somewhere where you can't gather pebbles, go to a local park for free or Dollar stores or Walmart tend to have them in the craft section. 

Next thing you will need is potting soil personally I like Miracle-Gro, but any will do. Using a small shovel or spoon fill up about half the jar with soil and add a few tablespoons of water. Take your Herb out of its original container and break up roots with fingers and place in jar, push it down to secure, fill in gaps with more soil as needed. Too keep the processs neat and tidy, as it was too cold to do outdoors, we laid newspaper to make clean-up easy.

We used chalkboard stickers to write the contents on each jar. However, you could use popscicle stick, cardstock with a holepunch and some twine, ideas are endless. You could choose to dress up your jar as well with burlap, ribbon, twine...do I need to go on? Place in a sunny spot and water as needed. 

You have a new neighbor? Cute lil housewarming gift. Need a Birthday gift for someone? Need something for the table? Place them in an old wood toolbox or a basket for display. 

It's a useful, fragrant pop of color indoors. Enjoy! Happy planting.

Mark 4:3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

Once Upon a Time in a Far Away Land...

Over the weekend I took one of my very own Little Princesses (ok she's big but still..MY Little Princess) to see the most recent release of Disney's Cinderella.   The movie was quite (ahem) enchanting...sorry it really was. I have always been quite the fan of Cinderella. I think I have seen every version that has been made into a movie. Who doesn't  love a good old timeless Fairy tale? As much as you want to think it was the typical sappy story of a Commoner meeting her Prince Charming and they live " Happily Ever After" it really was oh so much more. You come away with a heart happy feeling. 

At some point in your life you have been there. You realize you have been in Cinderella's shoes (by shoes I mean her ragged old flats and not that glass slipper). She may seem like a pushover, but she really is not. She is simply a beautiful, kindhearted, courteous human being whom we all should strive to be. How many times do you feel walked on or that all your kindness fails to get you anywhere? This movie gives the hope that yes indeed Good does prevail over evil.  It takes courage and persistence though to get there. 

Unfortunately, we encounter people in our lives who push us to the limits. It may or may not be a Stepmother or Stepsisters (who are not really ugly but their personality makes them UGLY). We find of our kind hearts breaking and our once courteous nature being tried. Cinderella has inner beauty as well as outer beauty. How many young girls can not simply see either? How many girls would love to have a Bibbidi Bobbodi Boo moment where someone makes them over and shows them how beautiful they really are? To have the chance go to a Ball to meet the man of her dreams (and not in the Bachelor or Bachelorette Reality TV kind of way). To dance the night away and leaving her gasping for breath because it was that amazing ...This is a movie that will leave you dreaming for all the wishes your heart makes.  

Early on in the movie Ella's Mother leaves her with these words of wisdom:
Simply have courage and be kind. You have more kindness in your little finger than some have in their whole body. Where there is kindness, there is goodness and where there is goodness, there is magic. 

And magic there is...A pumpkin is turned into a Carriage, the mice are cute and charming, the transformation is one that will leave you breathless and laughing. There is no twist, everything you expect to happen, happens. The movie is still enjoyable and in Disney fashion will leave you walking away singing..."Lavender Blue (Dilly Dilly...) Lavender Green Dilly Dilly, If you Love me Dilly Dilly...I will Love you..."

If you have the chance and you love a good Fairy tale take the time to see this one. Toward the end of the movie there is a captivating scene where Cinderella looks into the mirror and it is clear she begins to see her outer beauty shine and her voice remains strong as her inner beauty speaks.  

Don't be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good-Romans 12:21

Monkey Cake

Monkey Cake-

First off let me say this is my version of a Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Banana (only used for garnishment) Cake. I like the the idea of semi homemade easy recipes. I usually just make up a name to go with my creations. So this my friends is my version of Monkey Cake!

Chocolate cake- I made mine from a box and followed the directions. Bake accordingly and let cool. 

While cake is cooling I normally whip up my icing. Now because I am all about being flexible and easy I will say making your own icing is not necessary, but in my opinion it is so much better to use homemade buttercream icing. I don't measure for my recipe so it is not posted, but the glory of this is whichever recipe you do choose to use (even canned) it will still work. Once buttercream icing is made or dumped from the can, don't be ashamed really it's all good ;) add about a cup to a cup and a half of peanut butter to the icing and mix using a mixer. Mix well until it is creamy. Taste test to ensure it has a peanut butter taste. 

Now I baked my cake to be a round 9 inch layer cake. Whatever type of pan you use is fine. Just ice the top of the cake if you like. Or cut the cake into layers (like I did) and ice middle layer and top layer. You may think my cake is "fancy looking" but by all means it is not. I did not even ice the sides. I used a basic tip to finish the edge and add a decorative look. 

For garnishment I added dried banana chips and chopped peanut butter cups. Viola! Easy as...cake!

Thirsty Thursday wine review!

Thirsty Thursday Wine review. I grew up Catholic. If you too grew up Catholic, you probably had wine present at some point, Holidays, Festivals, dinner table, church...it was a staple. In fact I grew up drinking homemade wine, that my neighbor's brother would bottle up by the gallons! I never comprehended the presence of wine until I was probably in my thirties. I mean I had been introduced to it at an early age but really getting to "know" and appreciate wine did not happen until I was well into my thirties. I'm no wine enthusiast. but I am enthusiastic about drinking the wine! 

Today, I am venturing on my very first wine review! This is a recent find at Trader Joe's. If you know anything about Trader Joe's you know that the wine section is famous for it's "cheap" wine. I can say I have tried many based upon the look of the label. Only to be disappointed in the taste. This time I went on price and region, but the look of the bottle definitely is a plus, it draws your eye to it ;) I am quite the fan of a German Reisling; So I checked out the German wine section looking for something "new." Then there it was the attractive label, in the German wine section at an awesome price of 5.99, a lower alcohol content of 9.5% but that's the beauty of wine (easy to drink and not knocking you off your feet unless you want it too;)-Dr. Beckermann Liebfraumilch (meaning beloved lady's milk), From Rheinhessen (Wine Region in Germany) generally speaking this is a  medium sweet wine (a personal favorite) easy to drink wine. It really needs no accompaniment. I found it best to drink slightly chilled. It is just as well on it's own. Or in my case I paired it with a light baby Swiss cheese. Perfection!